knitting in the round needle question?

[katie9143]

if i am knitting a wool soaker in the round - is it possible that i need special smaller round needles or should i just be able to stretch it around a regular round set of needles? im doing the size lg of the curly purly soaker if that helps

tia

[iowaorganic]

It depends on how long your circular needles are. I usually magic loop my circular projects and use a really long circular but that is because I am cheap and lazy. If you want to do this- pull out a little bit of the cable on your needles somewhere near the middle of what you are working on. This will shorten up your set of circulars to what you need them to be. Then knit to where that little loop is and then readjust your cable again to have a little loop on the other side. That probably makes no sense..... Maybe someone else can explain it better. But don't stretch your knitting.... Get smaller needles if need be.

[flapjack]

You need a 16" needle for a soaker, unless you choose to magic loop it.

[lnupermom]

A 16" needle is ideal for the body of soakers but you can also use 2 circs or magic loop. Either of these alternates will also work for the cuffs if your soaker has them whereas the 16" will not.

The whole thing can also be done on DPNs.

You do not want to stretch your knitting to fit a particular needle.

[katie9143]

so are magic loop a special kind of needle?

[Melissaak]

It is a technique:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BtBSmxGomPk

[katie9143]

hrm....looks confusing....maybe i should buy the 16" needles.

[SevenVeils]

In addition to the 16" for the body, you will need either a pair of 12" circs or a set of DPNs for the legs.

[katie9143]

my gosh thats a lot of needles.....especially considering the pattern calls for 3 sizes just for the body....so hat is 4 sets i have to buy for one soaker

maybe i should stick to making the first one that i made and just sew up the sides. oh that reminds me, i should take a pic to show everyone that helped my how the first one came out. sewing up the sides evenly was harder than knitting and i can sew pretty well. thats why i thought this next one i would try one in the round...

[Twinklefae]

Keep in mind though, that if you are taking knittin gup as a hobby, you will reuse your needles a lot. If you are only learning to knit to be able to afford wool soakers, you will still reuse those needles a lot.

[painefaria]

Magic loop is not really that hard. I like it because I only need one length (29inch) per size for everything that I do. I haven't looked at the u-tube video (I am at work and draw the line somewhere )

The easiest way that I have found is to place all of your stiches on the needles connect and split in half.

At this half way mark you need to pull the excess needle cable through between the stitches. It will look like you have half of your stitches on your left needle, excess cable, remaining stitches on some of the cable, and right needle free to do the knitting.

Knit to the end of the stitches on the left needle, when you get to the end, pull the excess through the end and set the stitches up on the left needle again and repeat.

I know that it sounds really confusing but it is really easy once you get the hang of it. I have "magic looped" everyhting from leg hole on the soakers to the soaker it self. You can even do socks using the magic loop method.

If you have the time it may be helpful for you to cast on and just play until you have the hang of it. I don't think it would take you that long.

GOOD LUCK!